MORAL STORIES

AN INNOCENT CONFESSION

A young boy was being prepared for his first Confession and Holy Communion. Among the list of sins involving violation of the commandments, the one he could not understand was 'adultery'. The young catechist who taught him was silent about it. The boy asked her for details. Reluctant to explain the sin, she told him that adultery just means standing upside down in the headstand posture or 'Seershasanam' in Malayalam.

He was taught this posture in the Yoga class in school. She was not aware of this.

Next day, he went to confession and declared that he was in the habit of committing adultery every day. The surprised priest asked him what he meant by it.

He readily demonstrated it before the confessional. The other faithful, standing in queue for confession, watched this action with horror as they thought that the priest was imposing a new type of penance. Afraid of having to perform such a penance in public, they ran away from the confessional.

This story was narrated by Rev. Fr. Joseph Puthenpurackal, OFM Cap, Superior & Director, Assissi retreat centre, Bharananganam, Kerala. It shows the importance of imparting correct education to children in matters concerning sex and sin.

Unless priests, parents and teachers give proper information and formation, children may receive false notions from others, which may lead to serious complications in later life.

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By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

This is Story No. 48 in this site. Please click ‘Older Post’ at the bottom of this page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Post' at the bottom of this page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.